Filing drawer and front construction for same



Feb. 27, 1962 J. J. RIBBENSIETAI. 3,022,595

FILING DRAWER AND FRONT CONSTRUCTION FOR SAME Fil ed NOV. 6, 1959 INVENTORS JACOB J. RIBBENS HARLEY u. LEETE FRANCIS & FOOTE JR.

BY 2 it? WATTORNEY United States Patent 3,022,595 FILING DRAWER AND FRONT CONSTRUCTION FOR SAME Jacob J. Ribbens, Mayville, Wis., and Harley M. Leete, Belvedere, and Francis S. Foote, Jr., Berkeley, Calif., assignors to Tab Products Co., San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Nov. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 851,396 7 Claims. (Cl. 40-325) This invention relates to a filing drawer and to a front piece or front construction for the same. More particularly this invention relates to a filing drawer of the type employed to file punch cards used in business and accounting machines.

In the filing of punch cards of the character described a typical filing cabinet may contain 20 or more drawers arranged in two vertical columns of rows extending from about floor level to a height of several feet. The front of each drawer must be provided with a card holder to hold an identification card.

In connection with such filing needs it is a disadvantage of prior filing drawers that the front portions of the drawers are vertical and are diflicult to read. For example in a tenhigh cabinet (i.e., a cabinet having ten drawers in a vertical column), the top identification cards are easy to read but, to read those near the bottom one must stoop.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved filing drawer construction.

It is a further andmore particular object of the invention to provide a filing drawer construction including a front portion which is easily seen and which facilitates the reading of identification cards and the like.

It is a further particular object of the invention to provide an improved front construction for filing drawers and trays of the character described which facilitates visual inspection to determine from an identification card the contents of a particular drawer.

Yet another object is to provide a filing drawer front of the character described which serves the multiple functions of holding an identification card, of presenting the same so that it can be read easily and of providing a handle for operating the drawer.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the forward end of a filing drawer showing the front construction in exploded view.

FIGURE 2 is a rear view of the front block shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2, showing a portion of a filing drawer attached to the front block.

Referring now to the drawings and preliminarily to FIGURE 1, a filing drawer is shown at which, except for the front construction, may be of conventional type, being relatively narrow and of a width and depth to accommodate conventional punch cards, such drawer being accommodated in a filing cabinet of any suitable character. The drawer 10 comprises spaced side walls 11 which are bent along their upper edges at 12 to provide rims which do not tear clothing, which serve as convenient hand holds and which may also serve as suspension means. The drawer 10 also comprises a bottom 13 and a front wall 14. The front wall 14 is welded or otherwise per manently fixed to the remainder of the drawer 10. The front wall 14 projects outwardly at 14a and these lateral projections or flanges are formed with openings to reabove.

"ice

ceive screws 15 for a purpose described hereinafter. The front wall 14 also has a top extension which is bent over and down at 16 to provide an outwardly and downwardly inclined surface or shield for a purpose described hereinafter. The lower margin of the shield 16 is bent doubly as illustrated at 17. Two segments of this doubly bent portion or bead 17 are cut away and the resulting fingers 13 are bent forwardly as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 3.

A front block 25 is provided which is preferably of cast aluminum construction. The front block 25 is formed with relatively massive end walls 26, with a top member 27 joining the end walls 26 at their upper ends and with a lower member 28 joining end walls 26 at approximately their midportion. It will be seen that the end walls 26 are of generally triangular configuration and are such that, when their rear edges 26:: are in a vertical plane the upper front edges 29 of the end walls 26 slope outwardly and downwardly. Beneath the member 28, the lower edges of the end walls 26 slope downwardly and inwardly at 29a.

There is provided, therefore, a rectangular opening 30 which is defined by the members 26, 27 and 28. This opening slopes downwardly and outwardly like the edge portions 29.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURE 2, the end walls 26 of the block 25 are hollow at 32 to lighten the construction, they are also formed with screw holes 33 to receive the screws 15. The inner edge of the member 28 is formed with recesses 34 to mate with and receive the fingers 18.

In assembling these components, the front block 25 is mounted over the shield 16 with the screws 15 in alignment with the screw holes 33. The screws are then screwed in and tightened, thereby securing the front block 25 to the front wall 1 of the drawer 10. From an inspection of FIGURE 3 it will be seen that an entry slot 40 is provided between the top member 27 of the front block 25 and the upper edge of the shield 16. The width and length of this slot are sufiicient to receive a standard punch card held lengthwise. Such a card is shown at 41 in FIGUR' 3. its reverse, blank side will be printed, typed or hand-lettered with indicia regarding contents of the drawer. This identification card is pushed through the slot 46) down over the shield 16 until its lower edge passes through a lower slot 42 and comes to rest on the fingers18.

The use of a standard punch card for this purpose is illustrative. It will be understood that any other card of suitable shape and dimensions may be used. However, in an office requiring a tray of the character described for the filing of punch cards, the latter will be plentiful and it is sufficient to use the reverse, blank sides of these cards as identification cards. Such cards can be easily removed as well as easily inserted.

it will, therefore, be apparent that a very simple but very effective drawer front construction has been provided which is particularly useful in connection with filing trays for the filing of punch cards but which is generally useful. This front is attractive in appearance and it has a very advantageous result of tilting each identification card upwardly and outwardly for ease of viewing from Nevertheless, the slope is such that even a card on a tray at a relatively high elevation can be read with ease. The construction of the block 25 and the drawer front 14 cooperate with one another in a unique and advantageous manner such that a card can be easily inserted and easily removed and, when inserted, it will not drop out. Also the front block 25 provides a handle for pulling and holding the drawer, and this handle is so fashioned that it adds to rather than detracts from the appearance of the drawer.

We claim:

1. A drawer construction of the character described block being attached to saidlflanges with said rim adjacent 7 said shield and said open'area exposing the major por:

. tion of the shield.

2. A drawer construction of the character described comprising a drawer having side walls, a bottom and a front wall, said front wall being bent to define a flat vertical portion for connecting to said side walls and a flat sloping portion forming a downwardly and outwardly slanting shield, and a front block in the form of a rectangular frame mounted on the vertical portion of said front wall, said frame defining an open area adjacent and a sloping similarly to said shield, said frame having a bot tom transverse member which serves as a hand grip.

3. A drawerconstruction of the character described comprising a drawer having side walls, a bottom and a front Wall, said front wall being bent to define a fiat vertical portion for connecting to said side walls and a fiat sloping portion forminga downwardly and outwardly slanting shield, and a front block in the form of a rectahgularframe mounted on the vertical portion of said front wall, said frame defining an open area adjacent and sloping similarly to said shield, said frame having a bottom transverse member which serves as a hand grip; said shield having at its forward, bottom edge stop means to contact the bottom edge of a card inserted and held between said shield and frame.'

comprising a drawer having spaced side walls and a bottom wall and having a'front wall having. yertically extending flanges and being bent over at its'upper end to form a portion sloping downwardly and outwardly, and a front block attached to the flanges of the drawer comprising an open frame sloping forwardly and downwardly and substantially parallel tosaid sloping" portion and forming a pocket therewith for supporting an identification card in substantially'rthe plane. of and on the rearward side of saidframe and having at its lower and forward edge a member spaced from the front wall'of the drawer and adaptedto serve as a finger hold for manipulating the drawer. a

6. A drawer constructionof the character described comprising a. drawer having spaced side walls and a bottom and havin a front wall bent over at itstipper end to form a portion sloping downwardly and outwardly, and a front memberfor said drawer, said front member having side walls attached to the front wall of the drawer and saving also top and bottom horizontal member, said side walls and top and bottom member providing a frame for a an opening backed by and parallel to saidsloping portion,

said bottom member serving as a finger hold for manipulating the drawer; said drawer construction also compriswardly, and a front block attachedto said flanges comat its lower and forward edge a finger hold to enable an operator to insert a finger beneath and to the rear of the 'frame'to slide the drawer in and out of a cabinet.

5. A drawerv construction of the character described ing means for supporting an identification card adjacent said opening and rearwardly'of said top and bottom members. i Y, I

4' 7. A drawer construction of the character described comprising a drawer having spaced side walls and a bottom and having a front wall, said front wall having mounting flanges facing forwardly; a shield integral with said front wall and sloping forwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of said front wall and having, near its lower edge, a card supporting means'for supporting an identifi- Ication card laid over the shield; and a front member for said drawer comprising an open framemounted on said flanges and adjacent the front face of saidgshield and exposing the same, the lower edge of said frame serving as a finger hold for manipulating the drawer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 729,351 Kade May 26, 1903 2,438,871 Bullock Mar. 30, 1948 2,748,513 Brady June 5, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 98,030 Austria Sept. 25, 1924 

